Method and apparatus used in the burning of brick and other material



Feb, 21, 1928. 1,659,604

F. a. LAMBERT ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS USED IN THE BURNING 0F BRICK AND OTHER MATERIAL Filed NOV. 22, 1924 cmw- Q1 Patented Feb. 21, 1928.

emrno "STATES -*PAT?ENT or -Free.

rnAuxinm-mnnn LAMBERT Ann FERDINAND ERNST LAMMEET, oEcmcneo,

- :rnmnors. 1

METHOD ANDAPBARATUS USED IN THE ennnmeer BRICK AND OTHEE MATERIAL.

'Applicationifiled November 22, 1924. Serial No. 751,643.

Our invention relates to burning apparatus and the methods involved with gaseous liquid or powdered :tuels, and the ob 'eetof the invention is to 'bringnbout a saving in the "cost-of the burning of the brick or other material, and to 'produce'abetter and-more uni'tornrquality'offinished pro ductthan has heretofore-been aeeomp'lishedby the apparatus and methods used.

The apparatus shownand specifically described herein're lates ehiefiyto theuse of oil as the fuel used in the burning, but gas or powdered "eo'alzmaybe usedivith only slight changes in the arrangement necessary *to aduptlthe apparatusto the other fuels.

Oil asfuelhas-generally superseded coal in most of "the brick kilns and particularly so in the United States as relates to the larger centers Wherelarge quunti tics otbri ck are made. and hence We "will refer chiefly to the use of oil fuel in the showing o four method and apparatusin thisapplication.

Reiterenceivill'be' had'to the accompany ing drawing in which Figure lis ap'lan sectionthrough the fire arches ot' a portion of amotlern brickkiln. v

Figure 2is enendelevation of the base section of e modern brick kiln.

It is not deemednecessary" to show the 151111 construction or arrangement of the kiln of brick but shoWonly-the part of the kiln'in which our apparatus is located. I

In the draWing'Q indicates the outside elevzitional WziilOfa brick kiln, the brick being .staekedupin the usual form to'the normal height found des rable approximately perhaps'ten to fifteen feet in height, suiting the particular requirements of any ,given briek'yard.

Bindicates thefire'box spaces developed-by what are termed the arches indicated hy 4t, seeFig. 2.

Thi s arrangement of the fire arches orifire box spaces is'substantially the same ashas been u'sed'generally'in this art somewhat regardless'ot the-character-of the fuel used in burning. The modern brick kiln is fired from each side asisshown in Fig. 1. 'To-iiaeilitate thelirin there is built up at the out s-id'eot the main stack otbricks which ereiindicated inFig. 1 as 5Wl121t amounts toa c0n.

briek-in thut region a' s Welles in the balance ofthe kiln. e

The modern practice @of burning brick using oil as fuel is to provide hurners adapted to be :used with steam as the atomizing means for the oilin a mannersimilar to oil burners which require steam for their operation, "and. in a modern brick yard an overhead steam line is provided running back to the boiler house or central plent @Which furnishesthesteam. In brick yards f generally a stack of bricks put up for a 'kiln is quite large and the-ordinary yardprovides space in Which-the operation of making brickis-morenr less continuous i'n the -feature that akiln offinished brick is'being' taken down and -1nercl1andised While another kiln is being burned and =perhaps still another=0necooling oft 'an'd still another one perhaps beingbuilt updrom the freshly formed soft bricks from the clay, so that in an modern yard-this stealin-linebeingn permanent line unust "ext-end considerable distance from the boiler house sometimes running perhaps over as mueh es a quarter of a mile in dength. Thus there =is opportunity tor mui zh condensation -loss-in 'this steainline end as squatter of fa-et'regardless what insulation 111611118 3138 used the loss of heat carrying the steam from the boilers for oil and steam down attheleve1 or the dog houses and the burners are generally arranged tObQPlEL'CGCl'lHIJOSSlfiOH atthe commencement of the burn ng and beremoved Lltl at the finish as a matter of convenience in taking down and removing the finished brick, thus permitting trucks and vehicles easy access to finished pile of brick as the same is removed.

It is desirable to have the burning equipment or so much of the same as may be necessary, adapted to be taken up and moved and replaced as different kilns are made complete and removed as to the bricks therein.

In the burning of brick using fuel oil and steam as the atomizing means for the o l, the burner nozzle, so far as its outward appearance is concerned, is substantially like the burner nozzles we have shown in the drawing and indicated by 7.

The jet of steam and fuel oil as indicated by 8 serves the purpose of creating a draft of air in through the dog houses in the manner of a jet draft apparatus and the amount of air admitted under the influence of this draft is controlled at the dog houses 6 as may be desiredby the arrangement of closing brick indicated by 9 or by the shape and size of the dog house (3 itself.

The practice of burning brick is to start the fire rather slowly at first and then slowly increase its intensity to the maximum and then slowly shut off the fuel supply, and

" then shut it off entirely, meantime throughout keeping the steam jet acting as a blower creating draft and this dr ft feature is car ried through at all times to the complete finish of the burning.

The lower sections of the kiln early become hot and gases of combustion arise through the mass of bricks in the kiln arranged with small interstices for the vent ing of the gases of combustion.

In the bricks themselves there is a large quantity of moisture that must be driven off and in most clay there is quite a percentage of material which is combustible and is driven off ignited or reacted with the gases which come up from firing in the arches. Thus, for some time after the brick in the lower regions of the kiln or pile are intensely hot and have perhaps given off entirely their moisture or combustible material there is still a large quantity of entrained occluded and combustible matter in the upper sections of the kiln of bricks or brick in the upper part of the kiln, so that even after the bricks in the lower section might be termed completely burned, the bricks in the upper section are still active in the burning process way below the necessary temperature for the completion of the burning.

Thus for a long time after the fuel supply is entirely shut off, there must be created a draft up through the kiln of brick suiticient to promote the combustion of the entrained occluded and combustible matter still remaining in the upper portion of the kiln. The effect of the continued draft from therefrom to the upper sections. The men in charge of the burning of these kilns use the term, that this draft, after the fuel sup ply is shut off, carries the heat from the lower sections to the upper sections, and thus completes and makes a uniform burning of the entire kiln.

, The present practice is to use steam as we have described for creating this draft and one of the principal features gained by our invention is saving in the amount of steam. The steam for the draft purposes having no virtue as steam over a draft entirely of air. The moisture of the steam while some of it may be decomposed by the intense heat and react in combustion is not an advantage but rather a disadvantage as relates to a draft producing means as compared with the air direct.

Heated air actively absorbs moisture and when used as a draft-producing agent it is much more eiiicient in taking the moisture out from the contents of the kiln than is possible with draft produced by steam, as the steam itself furnishes moisture.

When the firing is commenced with tne present method of burning without the. use of our apparatus the fire arch spaces are substantially as shown in Fig. 1 in the space indicated by 10. .At the conclusion of the use of the fuel in the present or old method a draft only being used, then there is inserted into the bottom of the fire arches or fire boxes, a draft equalizing tube which is indicated by 11 in Fig. 1. These tubes are placed in each arch for no other function than to distribute the air draft created by the steam jet nozzle ofthe burner.

With our apparatus we provide a portable equipment in the form of an air compressor pump, a water pump, a variable speed gearing, and an electric motor forming a unit onto a base indicated by 12, the motor being connected up in portable manner to the serv ice electric lines in any manner desired.

In this unit 13 indicates the motor, 14 the air pump, 15 the water pump and the variable speed gearing. This unit is adapted to be lifted up with a crane and moved to any given kiln or position for operation.

The burner nozzles 7 are similar to the nozzles ordinarily used with an oil burner using steam as the atomizing means and these nozzles are connected to what we term an air and steam line 16 which receives its supply of air and steam from the pipe 17 coming from a system of U or other shaped piping indicated by 18 which are located in the bottom of some of the fire box spaces or fire arches. These U or other shaped pipes 18 amount to a superheating and steam generating system for air and steam Ill) that supply the burners. 7 through the pipe 16. V

The pipes 18 are supplied with water spray ladened air through the pipe 19 connected to a Venturi connection 20 which receives the air from the pipe 2-7 connected to the air pump 14. The pipe'19 receives the requisite quantity of water for the water spray in the venturi 20 from a pipe 21 connected to a pipe 22 connected to a thermo static cont-rolled valve 23 supplied by a pipe in which there is a controlled valve 28 and a connection 26 to the water pump 15.

A thermostat is located in a connection of the pipe 17 and is connected up by a connection 30 to operatethe valve 23 as -desired in controlling the amount of water that goes into the spray at the Venturi'con-v nection 20.

The pipeslS are heated bythe fire from the burners 7 and receive the heat that in their absence passes into the ground or bot tom of the fire box. This lower surface of the fire box is not available directly for the burning of the bricks.

c The thermostat 25 is adjusted to control the valve 23 to admit suiiicient water to keep the temperature found most desirable for the contents of the pipes 16 passing to the burners.

The amount of water admitted into the generating pipes 18 furnishes the right amount of steam to aid in the atomizing of the fuel and it aids in producingthe velocity of discharge of the atomized fuel and draft in connection thercwithto carry the flame of the burner to the full depth required for the size kiln used ordinarily in burning brick.

The addition of this water thus converted into steam serves the double purpose of ore.

venting the overheating of the pipes 1 8 and also aids in the dischar e of the fuel and draft a greater distance an may be accomplished with the sameamount of: air pressure developed by the pump than would be accomplished in the absence of the steam.

Not only that, there is thus furnished by the superheated steam as much as may be necessary to be decomposed. under the reaction of the heat of the kilnv to aid combustion in the manner commonly known in relation to steam jets in furnace fires.

The advantage of furnishing the steam by the direct action of the heat of the fire of our heating pipes located-in the bottom of the fire box arches since a large amount of heat normally goes. intov tlie, ground directwhich renders little or no, service in the burning of the brick as this ground area S burner. a draft only. is required and it is more economical to produce this draft: b our air pump 14 than it is to produce it by a steam jet as heretofore generally used.

As the temperature of the lower region of the'kiln becomes lower during that part oi. the method or process which drives the heat from-the lower regions to the upper regions of the kiln, we shut off as desired the water supply from the pump 15 by means of a valve 280i" othermeans of shutting off the water supply with the pipes 18.

The speed of the air pump 14 in relation to the speed of the motor 13 is variedv by speed changing gearing located in the box and controlled by the lever 36. -T-his permits the pressure delivered by the air pump to be varied to suit the different stages of the burning, While allowing the'motorto run more or less at a constant speed which is desirable with certain types of motors and electric current supplied by the public service lines. During a part of the burning, a much higher pressure is required through the nozzles than is required at other times.

In place of using the pump 15 as the source of supply for the water that is va porized by a nozzle in the Venturiconnection 20 wemay use any suitable source of water supply. I

We may, if desired, locate our air compressor as indicated by the pump 14 as a permanent and nonportable unit, but then there will be involved a more or less loss of heat due to the fact that in compressing air heat is developed. In the arrangement as here shown in Fig. 1 the heat developed by the compression of the air goes immediately into the useful service of the system. and little or no loss is occasioned by radiation and transmission for the airt-hus heated by compression, for immediately this heated air is joined by the water spray in the Venturi connectionQOand thus the heated air helps in converting the water into a vapor before it enters into the heating pipes 18 as described. t I 1 When the burning of the brick has'arrived at the stage when the fuel supply is shut off, the air distributing pipes 11 are then inserted the same as in the old practice and in those arches in which the heating pipes 18 are placed these draft distributing tubes are placed in on ;top of the pipes 18 as shown in Fig. 1. I i

29 indicates the holes in the draft distribloo uting tubes which are adapted to distribute the draft created by the nozzle 7 into the several divisions of the kiln as desired.

We provide the heating pipes 18 in as many arches of the kiln as may be found neeessary or desirable, but not necessarily in all of the arches, the point being to obtain by the pipes 18 the requisite amount of steam and the requisite temperature of the air entering the general supply pipe 16 to furnish all the nozzles in any given section with the right quantity of air and steam for the best results at the burner.

We may by variations in size, shape and number of the heating pipes 18 accomplish a range of temperature and steam generation to meet almost any condition met with in this art.

lhe amount of horsepower that is con sumed in burning a given quantity of brick, whether it be consumed in electric units and in steam units as shown in our apparatus, or whether it be consumed in the steam generation as involved in the old method, is found to be greatly reduced by the use of our apparatus and method as compared with the old system as described.

In that part of the process of burning wherein only draft is required to carry the heat from the lower sections to the upper sections of the kiln, we heat the draft pro ducing air largely from the heat of the ground or at the base of the fire box arches and thus are able to really carry more heat as it were from the bottom to the upper sections of the kiln.

In thus carrying, as the term is used, the heat from the bottom of the kiln to the top by means of air alone instead of by a large volume of steam as previously used, the heated air free of the steam, becomes a better agent for combustion, as it were, of the combustible material and gases in the upper sections of the kiln than is the case with the steam ladened atmosphere, for as the temperature goes down in the lower sections of the kiln and correspondingly in the upper sections. the heat soon goes below the temperature of the disassociation of the steam elements, so that the steam ladened air of the old method becomes a detriment instead of an addition to the completion of the burning the upper part of the kiln. Our superheatedair which furnishes the draft means at this period becomes a more active agent in combining with the gases and combustible material then found in the upper portion of the kiln than the steam ladened draft air.

lhe piping units and piping connections hat are involved in this portable arrangement of our apparatus allow a saving in cost of operating the burning since these units themselves are not necessarily connect ed with the permanent steam line but are more orless self-containedin this respect and may be taken apart in sections and replaced as desired with greater convenience than where the direct steam connections are used.

An electrical connection for the electrical service of the electric motor is a very simple connection and does not involve the care of the leakage which accompanies the steam connection, so that outside of any efliciency of the apparatus in the burning there is a saving in the arrangement of the apparatus as shown.

The thermostatic controlled valve 23 connected by the connection 30 to the thermostat 25 as described, may be any suitable means of mechanism for controlling the water supply to the heating system under the influence of the temperature of the return pipes from the heating pipes 18.

While we have shown and prefer to use a rotary air pump or compressor-to force the air into the heating system as represented by the pipes 18, we may use any sort of air compression device suited to furnish the requisitequantity of'air under pressure as desired.

While we show and describe some U shaped pipes located within the firing area of the fire arches for heating the air and generating the steam and the water to mingle therewith, we may use any suitable heating system heated by the fire of the kiln itself, for heating this air and water for the purpose described.

The steam combined with the heated air passing through the nozzles serves to project the vaporized fuel a greater distance out into the fire arch, than with the use of the air alone and thus is a material aid in the conducting flame to all the regions of the kiln as desired.

What we claim is:

1. The method of burning brick and the like in temporary kilns which consists in burning therein a fuel while suspended in the air, supplying a heat regulated quantity of water for forming steam within a zone of combustion, and utilizing said steam for aiding in burning fresh fuel and in'promoting uniformity in the burning process.

2. A method of burning brick and other material which consists in supplying air under compression through a heating zone located within the fire area of the kiln and heated thereby and using the said compressed air thus heated for vaporizing the fuel and causing draft in the kiln.

3. A method of burning brick and other material which consists in heating compressed air with the heat of the fire within the kiln and using the said compressed air thus heated for creating a draft in the fire area of the kiln.

t. The method of burning brick and the like in temporary kilns Which consists in burning therein a fuel While suspended in the air, supplying a heat regulated quantity of Water for forming steam Within a zone of combustion, stopping the supplying of fuel and Water at a predetermined stage of burn ing, and injecting compressed air for the combustion of unconsumed combustible material and for removing excess moisture.

5. The method of burning brick and the like in temporary kilns which consists in burning therein a fuel While suspended in the air, supplying a heat regulated quantity of water for forming steam Within a Zone of combustion, stopping the supplying of wa ter, and injecting compressed air preheated by Waste heat of said kiln for removing excess moisture and completing the burning operation.

6. A method of burning brick comprising producing an air pressure, atomizing a fuel, burning said atomized fuel and creating draft Within a kiln, projecting a Water spray into the said compressed air and heating the said compressed air and Water spray from the heat of the kiln itself.

7. A method of burning brick in which fuel is projected into the fire region by means of a jet of fluid, the fuel and the said fluid discharged into the fire region by pressure on the fluid, and said fluid during a part of the burning composed of a mixture of air and steam and during another stage of the burning composed only of air.

8. A method of burning brick in Which there is used fuel adapted to be projected into the fire region by means of a jet of fluid, the fuel and the said fluid being discharged into the fire region by pressure on the fluid,

and said fluid during a part of the burning composed of a mixture of air and steam and during another stage of the burning composed only of air; and heating the said fluid and steam from the heat of the kiln itself.

9. A method of burning brick in which there is used fuel adapted to be projected into the fire region by means of a ct of fluid, the fuel and the said fluid discharged into the fire region by pressure on the fluid and said fluid during a part of the burning composed of a mixture of air and steam and during another stage of the burning composed only of air, heating the said fluid and steam from the heat of the kiln itself, and controlling the temperature of the said fluid and steam through the medium of introducing more or less Water to the fluid.

10. In a device of the class described, a. burning unit of a brick kiln, composed of a motor, arotary air pump driven by the said motor, a Water pump, all mounted on a singlo base to be moved about as a unit, a series of heating coils located in the fire region of the kiln, and connected up by suitable piping to the said air pump and water pump, a series of fuel and draft producing nozzles mounted to project compressed air, steam and fuel into the fire region of the kiln, and connected up to receive the compressed air and steam as the same is delivcred from the heating coils Within the fire region of the kiln.

Signed at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, this first day of October, 1924.

FRANK BERNARD LAMBERT. FERDINAND ERNST LAMMERT. 

